A Straight Talk on DebtA Straight Talk on Debt gives you the real deal on debt, straight from our employees and personal finance experts. Learn more about debt relief plans and how to be financially fit.

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Fri, Oct 24 2014

CareOne Debt DiscussionsThe employees of CareOne Services, Inc. understand debt, many have experienced their own personal debt challenges. Learn more about why the employees of CareOne understand what it is like to struggle financially.

We are about to enter THE HOLIDAY SEASON! For some of us, just the thought of the upcoming holiday season can send us into a deep, dark funk. Money is already tight, the budget is stretched to the limit and we feel more like the Grinch who stole Christmas rather than Jolly Old St. Nicholas. This is not a time of enjoyment for us but we participate anyway. I'm sure you have either seen or heard of the TV series, Doomsday Preppers. The series is devoted to showing us how to get ready for nearly any...

ARRRGGHHHH! I think everyone in my apartment complex heard me scream when I opened my latest energy bill. Dear Hubby and I live in a two bedroom apartment and our most recent energy bill was $102.23, which is a $41 increase in just one month.

Hurrah! After three months of job searching, Dear Hubby has started a new job and finally received his first paycheck. Two people living on one salary while relocating to a new state and trying to sell a home has been quite stressful. We’ve had to make major adjustments in our spending habits, and truthfully, it has not been fun for a Diva like me.
To celebrate Dear Hubby’s first pay check...
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Hello Savvy Consumers! It’s been awhile since I last wrote you, and I’ve been diligently working to find new ways you can help shrink you budget and save money. This is no easy task as prices on just about everything seem to be rising. As I pulled my car into the local gas station this week, I gasped at the cost of a gallon of regular fuel -- $3.19. Talk about sticker shock! It’s hard to believe that just ten years ago, I paid about $1.15 per gallon. If you’re like most Americans, the cost of fuel is taking a big bite out of your monthly budget. Unless you live in a city without public transportation, you likely drive everywhere you have to go – work, the grocery store, shuttling the kids to school and extracurricular activities. You may wonder...

In the late 1980s, I was a struggling young father in my 20s who was going through a divorce and trying to make ends meet. In an effort to seek help managing my debt, I took the advice of a lawyer and declared bankruptcy. It was a huge blow to my self-esteem, but it made an important impression on me. I was committed to learning more about managing money, investing, saving, and making my money work for me. What I soon discovered is that most financial companies only help people who have lots of money, not people who are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck and pay their bills on time.

So you realize you’re in too deep with your debt. What are you going to do? The good thing is there are several solutions, but they all take action on your part to successfully become debt free. Your first and most important option is to help yourself out of the situation you’ve gotten yourself into. Sometimes the hardest part is to just get started. Where do you begin? I suggest writing down everything that you owe. Sometimes we are sending out so many payments to so many different creditors that we’ve completely lost track of exactly how much we owe. This usually is a sobering experience. Now you need to figure out if your debt is a problem you can handle yourself. If you are current on your payments and the interest rates on your credit cards...

When someone joins a Debt Management Plan, waiting to hear whether their creditors accepted the proposed payment plan can cause a lot of anxiety. I believe that what really causes this stress is not understanding the proposal process. This post will hopefully demystify this crucial part of the DMP and put you more at ease as you wait to see if your creditors accepted the terms of the plan. A proposal is what CareOne sends to the creditors within a day or two of your first payment. The proposal is sent close to the payment date because we want to set the tone with the creditor that you are serious about paying off your debt through the DMP. We estimate the proposed payment amount based on the balance of the account and some guidelines established...

No one likes to admit they’re in trouble – especially when the “trouble” is financial. No one likes reaching out to others for help – especially for a financial issue. Many people will continue to spend themselves into oblivion rather than make the sacrifices needed to pay off their debt and build a savings. Let’s get serious folks; it’s not fun to be broke. But when you are, you have to make changes in your lifestyle in order to stay afloat. One of my most interesting experiences was participating in a focus group of consumers talking about their debt. I was amazed at one participant’s attitude. Creditors were calling her everyday about overdue bills, and she was still planning a lavish vacation for her family. Was she in total denial? Did...

This week actually went quite well with my new budgeting strategy -- no giving way to temptation, no purchases that sabotaged my bank account!
As I did my weekly grocery shopping, I selected the generic items, and I always asked myself, “Is this item something that I need or is it something I want?” The needs (bread, eggs and veggies) went into the basket and the wants (magazines, soft drinks and chocolates) stayed on the shelf. This was a big win! I rolled my shopping cart out of the store with a smile of self-satisfaction. No sooner had I dropped the groceries on my kitchen table when the phone rang…
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O.k…It’s 14 days into the New Year, and I must admit that this whole money saving, cutting back expenses resolution is quite challenging. Truthfully, I’ve been trying to pinch pennies here and there, but starting out the year, I was just “winging it” when it came to my finances. Trust me, I know better, but like most people who juggle work and family responsibilities, I haven’t had time to really focus. So I took about 30 minutes on a Monday night to revisit my budget and make some modifications to accommodate my current household income. I’m the kind of person who likes to keep track of my expenses by writing everything in a notebook, but I tried something new. I used the Budget Planner under Tools & Tips on the CareOne site to calculate...

My, my, my, how time does fly! It’s already a brand new year and time to think about all those exciting new challenges 2008 will bring. I have traditionally made New Year’s resolutions. I love the idea of making a life-changing commitment and then coming up with a strategy to accomplish that goal. Unfortunately, real life has a tendency of getting in the way of my fabulous dreams and aspirations. My past resolutions become recycled each year in January. And no, I still can’t seem to get it together and run a marathon, lose 10 pounds and meditate three days a week. This year though, things are going to be different. Why? Because I’m actually going to make a resolution that I must achieve for my financial well being. I’m going to reduce my monthly...